After the World's End
by Felix Sterreira
Summary: Post-game. Joshua tries to have friends, but he still has a job to do. Mr. H is worried that he might get fired, or worse. Neku has to convince Beat that Joshua isn't all bad, but Rhyme seems to like him already. And someone isn't actually dead, you 000s!
1. SplitSecond

Chapter 1

Yoshiya 'Joshua' Kiryu sat moodily on top of the 104 building. The thoughts of his proxy, Neku Sakuraba, echoed in his head. _Trust your partner. And I do. I can't forgive you, but I trust you…You took care of things, right? Otherwise Shibuya would be gone, and my world with it…Hey did I mention? I've got friends now! We're getting together for the first time in a week. See you there?_

This 'Pact' stuff was harder to get rid of than he thought.

Joshua the Composer, god of Shibuya, had tried to destroy His land. In order to do so, He made a bet with His Conductor, Megumi Kitaniji. A proxy had played His own game for him. In order to win the game, He had made a Pact, an otherworldly bond, with the proxy. And when He saw what a person the proxy had become, He had decided that Shibuya should remain after all. The only troubling thing left was that the pact with Neku still remained. Neku's own thoughts were constantly showing up in His head. Perhaps Neku knew this. Hadn't he just sent Joshua a telepathic invitation?

"Howdy, Josh," Sanae Hanekoma landed gracefully next to Joshua on the building. "What's on your mind?"

"Mr. H. I was just thinking about that last game. Those kids went through hell together." Joshua giggled internally, listening to himself. 'Those kids.' He was hardly older than they were, since time had come to a standstill for him the day he became a Reaper. Still, he didn't feel like he was maturing mentally either. Well, perhaps mentally, but not emotionally.

"Not feeling a little guilt, are we?" laughed Mr. H. "Joshua, no matter what you think, you're still somewhat human. You were Neku's friend, whether you wanna admit it or not. I think you only shot him to mess with his head. You were gonna restore Shibuya all along."

"Mm. Maybe. He certainly thinks we're friends. Just invited me to go meet up with him and his friends…" The Composer relaxed.

"You should go!" encouraged Sanae. "When's the last time you actually had a friend, Joshua? You got me, but I get paid to keep you in line. You had-I repeat, had-Kitaniji, but you just erased him."

"I'm the God of Shibuya. I can't afford—"

"That's one of the things I'm supposed to tell you," the barista rubbed the back of his neck. "Your Soul is officially refined enough to ascend to a higher plane. You've got a spot in Heaven, if you want it. Good going, boss."

"Hmph. And I can take this spot whenever I want?" asked Joshua thoughtfully.

"Say the word, J. There's no initiation ceremony. I snap my fingers and you grow angel wings on the spot. If they haven't stripped me of that power yet," groaned Hanekoma, remembering that he was a fallen angel for the thousandth time. He had come clean with Joshua while he had gone to fetch him from the Tin Pin dimension. "This whole mess is gonna have repercussions upstairs, you know." Joshua ignored him. "What, you seem down." Again, no response from the Composer. "It's their world. They get to decide what to do with it. We just—" But he was cut off as Joshua shot into the air. Reluctantly, Hanekoma laughed and spread his wings. "Some folks just don't take no for an answer," he muttered to himself. And he took off after Joshua, delighted to see him heading for Hachiko. Towards Neku and his friends. "'Atta boy, Joshua. Kid like you deserves friends," the Producer said, again more to himself than to Josh. He turned and started flying in the other direction. Just in case he got expelled from the angels, it would be nice to have a RG life again. He had a café to get into shape.


	2. Debt

Chapter 2

Neku Sakuraba and his friends were hanging around Hachiko. It still thrilled to even think of himself as having friends. He, Shiki, and Beat were attempting to explain to Rhyme everything that had happened over the weeks she was a pin. Shiki had told the last three days of that first week, and Neku and Beat in tandem had told the next two. Shiki joined back in the telling at the point where she had quite literally woken up lying on her back in sewer sludge, at the Shibuya river. But when they got to the part when Beat and Shiki had been frozen, only Neku could go on.

"So, Rhyme… Joshua froze them cause," and this part was still hard for Neku. "Cause Joshua is the Composer of Shibuya. He made a bet with the Conductor, about whether or not Shibuya should exist. And he killed me so I could play for him as his proxy. He froze Shiki and Beat after we killed Kitaniji's dragon and challenged me to a final duel. Winner got to be Composer and decide what happened to Shibuya. We both took a gun, but I…I couldn't shoot Joshua."

"I still don't get why not, yo," Beat put a hand to his forehead.

"Cause Joshua was his friend, Beat," smiled Rhyme gently.

"And for some reason, Shibuya is still here," added Shiki. "So maybe Joshua changed his mind or something."

"I don't think he was a bad person," Rhyme ran with the conversation. "And I don't think the Reapers' Game is an entirely bad thing either."

"Whatchu say, Rhyme?" Beat looked shocked.

"Beat, Neku was the only person here who stood to lose anything that Game. Joshua killed him, so he could have lost his life that he wouldn't have lost normally," explained Skulls Jr., as Kariya had called her so long ago. "But Beat, you and me and Shiki all died anyway. If it weren't for the Game, none of us would be here right now. I think we owe the Composer…Joshua…something."

"You should listen to her, Neku. This kid's pretty sharp," came a familiar voice from behind the statue. Then an even more familiar giggle.

"Joshua! You did come!" Neku exclaimed. He had invited Joshua in his head, more as a vague hope than anything else. Because they were friends. They were partners. "Shit. I didn't think you would. So you are monitoring my thoughts?"

"Actually that's one of the things I came to talk to you about," Joshua came out from his comfortable leaning spot. He wasn't in his Composer form, but in his child form, and his violet eyes glinted. It bothered Neku how much he'd missed that. "You were right. I took care of things. But there's still one loose end."

"Oh yeah?" Neku was apparently the only one who could talk. The others were all still in shock. Beat was glaring, and Shiki and Rhyme were just dumbfounded.

"Our Pact, Neku. It's not dying easy." He folded his arms angrily. "Believe it or not, I was trying to do something nice for you."

"Free of charge? There's no game involved? Who are you and what have you done with Joshua?" Neku stared back in the same way.

"Tee hee…I'm glad to see your wit hasn't dulled in my absence. But seriously. I was trying to cleanly sever all your ties to the UG at once."

"Yeah. I really appreciate how you always use 'cutting things' metaphors with me." They were slipping more easily into this friendship than he had thought.

"Okay. Well, there are some things you should now. I owe you an explanation, I think," giggled the Composer.

"Damn right you do," Neku agreed.

Stupid 000s! How dare they forget him! That hectopascal, the Composer, had crunched him and then just left him there! He hadn't even made sure he was dead! Zetta insulting! He needed revenge. All those Players and the Composer… Neku Sakuraba, Daisukenojo Bito, Raimu Bito, Shiki Misaki, and Yoshiya Kiryu. All of them were garbage and he'd add their bodies to the heap.


	3. Preparations

Chapter 3

Sanae went to work making a pin. Human pin makers needed all sorts of tools and other irritating things, but Sanae could create designs with only his mind. He had to be particularly skilled at it to be chosen as Producer of course, but no one else had the passion for art that Sanae did. His artwork, under the name of CAT, was not required; he did it because he loved the art.

This particular pin, though, was for a more practical purpose. Sanae had etched onto it a simple four-letter word in red: HELP. Its psych was not one that would ever be helpful to the Players. This pin was for him. As a fallen angel, he had several enemies who would only be happy to see him dead. Not to mention the vengeful Sho Minamimoto, who might or might not be still alive, he also had the Angelic Council, and the new café across the street. RabidDog. He got the feeling that it, too, was more than just a simple café. But Sanae did not intend to find out how much more.

Thus the pin. If he were ever in serious trouble, the message 'HELP' would appear in the mind of Shibuya's Composer, the only person strong enough to defeat someone who could defeat the Producer. Actually, if someone could defeat him, Sanae doubted even Joshua could avenge him. Which is why he'd waited until he'd know the Pact between Joshua and Neku still existed before he made the pin. The message would go through the mental connection to Joshua on to Neku. If the two of them on a team couldn't defeat something, then it was undefeatable.

All right. There. All the preparations that were necessary were made. Of course, Sanae had already made sure he had the same measures of control over WildKat as Joshua had over Shibuya. At a moment's notice, if it became inconvenient, he could erase the café. That would have all sorts of negative effects throughout the RG and the UG, but the empty space would fill itself in. Soon enough it would be forgotten, passed off as a ghost or something by the living and as likely as not pinned on the Composer by the Reapers. Sanae glanced at his watch. Okay, he had time. Perhaps he'd drop into RabidDog. Scope out the competition.

"So explain," Neku told Joshua.

"I was just gonna tell you who Mr. H really was, besides CAT," shrugged Joshua. "He's the Producer. His job is to manufacture all sorts of pins and items that the Composer needs. He also _is_ the brand Gatito, though he never shows his face to them either."

"No way!" Shiki squealed. She acted just like she had in the UG, but it was difficult for Neku to get used to her RG body. He was trying his best though, because he had promised they'd always be friends. And they were. "I love Gatito stuff. He designs all of that?"

"Yes," Joshua seemed a little relieved that someone else would acknowledge his existence. He seemed a little less cool and, well, composed than he normally was. "You must be Shiki Misaki. I'm Joshua."

"It's…nice to meet you," Shiki replied uncertainly.

"I'm Rhyme," Rhyme introduced herself.

"Appropriate, as your introduction rhymes. I suppose I should thank you for standing up for me. And I should apologize for the fact that you were a pin for several days," Joshua shrugged. "Though that actually wasn't directly my fault."

"It's okay," said Rhyme cheerfully. "It all worked out. But why did you change your mind about destroying Shibuya?"

"Hmm…" Joshua put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "All of you. Mostly Neku, but all of you. Neku was the worst person in Shibuya before I entered him into my Game. Now he's changed. That convinced me of Shibuya's capacity to change. And the virtue of you four Players convinced me that you were the ones who could change it. You, Rhyme, though…It may comfort you to know that I was going to restore you whether or not the others won."

"What?" Rhyme was surprised.

"You saved your brother by sacrificing your own existence. I just love drama like that," smiled Josh. "You earned enough points in my book that I would have brought you back to life somewhere else, even if I had erased Shibuya."

"What the hell was I playin' for, then?" Beat shouted, talking for the first time. "Why didn't you just bring Rhyme back to life right away?"

"Beat… It would have been interfering in the Game," Rhyme tried to explain.

"Screw the game! We're not his toys, Rhyme!"

Minamimoto felt dangerous. He was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally erasing a Player in the current game just by shooting a blast down at them. "You factoring sons of digits!" he shouted. "I'll iterate you all! The world will reflect my flawless calculations! INFINITY!"


End file.
